2018-2019 Canadian Ladies News and Updates!

[Zazy]

Cotop has improved her skating skills but her axel is totally . She doesn't step up AT ALL and when she's nervous like today, it's even worse. I think Ravi will need a couple of years to rework her jump techniques. Her sal was so low as well. I'm hopeful she'll fix the jumps since she's still young.

Her double axel has actually improved quite a bit compared to last year. Unfortunately when she's nervous she goes back to her old habits. And she's landed some beautiful salchows this year with lots of height - again, probably nerves.

On the plus side, I think this is the first time her 3-3 has been called fully rotated (in international competition). I hope her injury troubles are over so she can really train the jumps properly because she has a lot of raw potential.

 

[WanderlustTO]

Since Alaine made the free skate, Gabrielle just needs to be top twelve, which just means she needs to not bomb, looking at who’s behind her.

I'm not great on the math...will Gabby making top 12 be enough for two spots? Is there anything Alaine can do to assist in getting those placements.

This is my huge nightmare for Canadian ladies...they end up stuck with one spot at the Worlds and just don't have the strength to break back into to two spots.

 

[Colonel Green]

I'm not great on the math...will Gabby making top 12 be enough for two spots? Is there anything Alaine can do to assist in getting those placements.

Yes, as I said, Gabrielle in the top twelve is enough. If Gabrielle dropped out of the top twelve then Alaine would have to move up quite a few ordinals to be of any consequence.

 

[WanderlustTO]

Yes, as I said, Gabrielle in the top twelve is enough. If Gabrielle dropped out of the top twelve then Alaine would have to move up quite a few ordinals to be of any consequence.

But what if Gabby has a bad skate? There's a 7 pt gap b/w her & 13th place...and i think she has skill on her side...so should be enough. but i'm kinda paranoid.

 

[fsfann]

I'm not great on the math...will Gabby making top 12 be enough for two spots? Is there anything Alaine can do to assist in getting those placements.

This is my huge nightmare for Canadian ladies...they end up stuck with one spot at the Worlds and just don't have the strength to break back into to two spots.

There's no need for more than 1 spot if we don't deserve it. And frankly, 2 is generous for us at this point in time. If we get two spots great, but the reality is that we really aren't anywhere close to contending for top 10 right now, so why should we get 2 spots?

 

[Colonel Green]

If we get two spots great, but the reality is that we really aren't anywhere close to contending for top 10 right now, so why should we get 2 spots?

Seeing as Gabby is currently eleventh and would have moved up a number of ordinals if the Lutz landing had gone slightly better, that’s a serious overstatement.

 

[coppertop1]

Seeing as Gabby is currently eleventh and would have moved up a number of ordinals if the Lutz landing had gone slightly better, that’s a serious overstatement.

Agreed. I know we're in valley but seriously? To someone people, the glass is always half empty. How can people expect our other ladies to improve if we don't send them to competition?

 

[fsfann]

Sorry - my point is that Gabby is the only lady in the country who could come close to top 10. There are no others right now who could come close to that. If Kaetlyn came out of retirement, then yes - I would hope that we could have 2 spots...but it is what it is. (And I doubt we'll see Kaetlyn back anyway, so it's a moot point.)

As much as it's great having 3 ladies there, we just don't deserve the spots, so I'm not losing any sleep over it.

If we went from 3 to 2 in dance, I'd be crushed, because we have a multiple number of teams who can compete in the top 10-15 places in the world.

 

[puglover]

We deserve the spots because they were earned fair and square last year by skaters who fought hard and placed well. In fact, Kaetlyn is still the World Champion for a few more hours.

Sorry - my point is that Gabby is the only lady in the country who could come close to top 10. There are no others right now who could come close to that. If Kaetlyn came out of retirement, then yes - I would hope that we could have 2 spots...but it is what it is. (And I doubt we'll see Kaetlyn back anyway, so it's a moot point.)

As much as it's great having 3 ladies there, we just don't deserve the spots, so I'm not losing any sleep over it.

If we went from 3 to 2 in dance, I'd be crushed, because we have a multiple number of teams who can compete in the top 10-15 places in the world.

 

[fsfann]

We deserve the spots because they were earned fair and square last year by skaters who fought hard and placed well. In fact, Kaetlyn is still the World Champion for a few more hours.

Yes. We deserved them this year, but we sure as heck don't deserve them next year. We hardly have any skatesr who have even qualified with the world minimums. lol.

 

[puglover]

Well, we may not earn 2 spots but I hope we do and we are able to send 2 ladies. I am not the Canadian ladies expert danafan is but as I recall both Veronique Mallet and Larkyn Austman were within a whisper of earning the world minimums. Both are on the comeback trail from injuries but lovely skaters and as a Canadian fan, I enjoy them very much. Alicia Pineault has also been injured but hopefully next year will be a new chapter for her. Alison Schumacher skated well enough to earn a second spot for Canada at junior worlds.

I guess I just don't like the word "deserve". We may be hard pressed to medal and even place top ten, but I think we certainly have skaters who do not look out of place at a worlds. The way to success is to get out there and compete.

 

[Erin]

I am not the Canadian ladies expert danafan is but as I recall both Veronique Mallet and Larkyn Austman were within a whisper of earning the world minimums.

Mallet has the world minimums. But you are correct that Austman just missed.

 

[yurokis40]

If Kaetlyn came out of retirement, then yes

Kaetlyn would have contended for gold if she had skated this year, too bad she did not compete this year.

 

[puglover]

I am not sure this is the year but I believe Gabby will have an amazing comeback at some point. When she is on, she is dynamite.

 

[Jislav]

I am not sure this is the year but I believe Gabby will have an amazing comeback at some point. When she is on, she is dynamite.

Her triple-triple combination yesterday was very solid. Probably the most solid since the Olympics.

 

[Rock2]

Remember Cotop had a fractured pelvis this past fall.

Against that backdrop she has made noticeable improvement under Ravi, especially in her basics. If she has the work ethic that he says she does I'm expecting some good programs and a SP featuring 3T/3T and 3F. If they can right the ship on her lutz over the summer as a gift with purchase, she'll be quite deserving of a world's spot when the time comes.

I'm not hyping in the least, but I expect to really like what I see come nationals next year if not before.

 

[fsfann]

Remember Cotop had a fractured pelvis this past fall.

Against that backdrop she has made noticeable improvement under Ravi, especially in her basics. If she has the work ethic that he says she does I'm expecting some good programs and a SP featuring 3T/3T and 3F. If they can right the ship on her lutz over the summer as a gift with purchase, she'll be quite deserving of a world's spot when the time comes.

I'm not hyping in the least, but I expect to really like what I see come nationals next year if not before.

Agree. I think Cotop has a tonne of potential. Love her skating, and her grit. Once she gets her 3 Lutz she will be rockin' it! And I also felt that she was VERY deserving of the spot this year based on her performance at Nationals.

With that being said, I don't see the same with Austman and Mallet. At this point in their career, if they don't have solid Lutzes and Flips, I just don't see how they can compete. I know Mallet was coming off injuries, so maybe she can get them back, but just skating around doing toes and sal/loops isn't going to cut it. It isn't 1993 afterall....

Schumacher did a phenomenal job at JWs...so there's another one.

Anyway, I certainly do hope we can qualify 2 women for next year, especially since it's in Montreal.... but I really don't get the "crying" about losing a spot or two when we really don't have the depth to deserve it. If we transposed our Ladies' Nationals to Japan, Russia or the US, I don't think any of our ladies would have finished in the top 10 at those other countries' national skating competition...

 

[fsfann]

I am not sure this is the year but I believe Gabby will have an amazing comeback at some point. When she is on, she is dynamite.

I hope she can pull it off, but I have a feeling we might see a Nationals repeat. I hope she goes out there and nails it though...

 

[danafan]

So we have two skaters qualified to skate the free, one currently in the top half of that field, and if the placements hold, that would qualify two spots for next year. So how exactly does a country "deserve" two spots then?

We also had a skater make top 10 at junior worlds who is clearly on her way up and who knows if by next year she might not be a top 10 contender at the senior level.

We also have two other skaters at home who had the worlds TES minimums (Mallet, who recently posted an instagram story doing a triple flip, so she's still working her way back, and Pineault).

So give me a break we don't "deserve" two spots.

And looking forward, it's easier to keep two spots if you already have two and I don't see any reason we shouldn't be able to keep two spots through 2022.

 

[Colonel Green]

Kaetlyn’s commemorative recreation of her Worlds victory lap.

 

[believed]

Kaetlyn’s commemorative recreation of her Worlds victory lap.

A moment I’ll never forget!

 

[Wyliefan]

I was just coming here to post that. Love her so much.

 

[coppertop1]

What a moment that was. I miss her.

 

[fsfann]

I miss her too. Sad that we likely won't ever see her competing again....

 

[coppertop1]

I miss her too. Sad that we likely won't ever see her competing again....

I agree. My gut feeling is she will retire.

 

[JanetB]

Gabby has made the top twelve overall

 

[Colonel Green]

Personal victory for her, after all the shit she’s had to deal with this year. Here’s to better days ahead.

And a really great Lutz-toe combination.

Alaine...you know, as much as she’s a headcase, it must require real fortitude to keep putting herself out there year after year when she almost always bombs.

 

[danafan]

Daleman really delivered in the first half of her free skate, including a clean (I think?) triple lutz triple toe, a first for her in international competition. So there will be two Canadian ladies at worlds 2020 Montreal! Yippee!

 

[Catherine M]

Daleman really delivered in the first half of her free skate, including a clean (I think?) triple lutz triple toe, a first for her in international competition. So there will be to Canadian ladies at worlds 2020 Montreal! Yippee!

Gabby!

Towards the end, I was yelling at my computer "do doubles" as I thought at this point a clean-ish skate was more important. Glad she was able to hang on and two ladies will get the honor of skating on home ice next year.

 

[Erin]

Gabby!

Towards the end, I was yelling at my computer "do doubles" as I thought at this point a clean-ish skate was more important. Glad she was able to hang on and two ladies will get the honor of skating on home ice next year.

Haha I was doing the same thing!!